Page 28 of Fierce Hearts

I was to be a trophy then in the Ferences' eyes. That's what he was saying. There'd always been whispers it was either the Malatestas or the Ferences that had killed my father, but they'd never found proof of the exact killer, and no one had claimed it. But it had been awfully odd when they'd also moved their operations to Vintmere after Marco chose to change cities, not wanting to keep struggling for survival with the more prominent Donati, Malatesta, and Lynch families that called Ironstone home.

But there was also Bianca, Marco's sister, Ernesto's only daughter. I'd not been close to her, since her mother, my aunt Julia, had kept her from getting as involved in the family affairs as I had. She'd not wanted her to get close to me, whereas with Marco, she couldn't stop that. Julia had always been unsettled by my father. Understandably.

Then again, her own husband was just as bad.

Perhaps Ernesto had a heart after all, and he didn't want to condemn his own daughter to the cruelty and potential death at Juan's hands. Either that, or it was the more likely option—he'd already promised her to another family. If my memory served me right, she'd be eighteen this year.

"I can't do this."

"You can, and you will." His tone softened slightly, but I knew it was false, meant to reel me in. "Sofia, we let you walk away. We respected your choice to leave the family business. But now we need you. Your family needs you."

I stared hard at the pavement, wanting to run from all of this, to truly be free.

This marriage would avert a war between the families. Stop blood spilling on the streets. As much as I wanted to hate my family, I couldn’t, not all of them.

Bianca and aunt Julia would be caught up in that. Families like the Ference and the Savoca didn't care if women and children got caught in the crossfire. If anything, they'd use them to their advantage.

"You can finally meet Marco's daughter. He married that sweet thing, Cara, remember her? Had a little girl with her, Rosette. She just turned three.”

My heart nearly stopped at his words.

Marco had a daughter? I remembered Cara, a woman he'd been seeing just before I'd left. She'd been sweet, a part of our world but not to one of the big families. She was the daughter of one of the main gun dealers, although she was soft, a rarity in the darkness of our world.

Something Marco had been drawn to.

And now there was a little girl.

How would they be treated now that Marco was gone? Would Ernesto try to marry Cara off as well? She was not a true Savoca, but perhaps it was enough in his eyes and others. His own daughter-in-law, family in his eyes, if you believed he actually cared for her.

"Would you leave her unprotected? Let her grow up in a war between the families?"

I closed my eyes, feeling the trap closing around me. He knew I was soft, that I cared. I had more family than I cared to admit that I wanted to have good lives, like my other aunt, Caterina, my father's sister. She'd always been sweet to my mother and I, and her remaining son was raised well, less cruel than some of the other Savoca men. But he was strong and had a good standing in the family, especially since his father had been a renowned arms dealer turned Savoca.

"This is your duty, your way to protect all those in our family who are not cut out for a war. The Ference alliance will stop bloodshed on our streets. You can't turn your back on that."

Of course he was pulling on my heartstrings, on my empathy. I'd become a nurse to help others, it was obvious I cared too much sometimes.

A blessing and a curse. Definitely a curse right now.

"I..." I what? What could I say to get out of this? To avoid becoming a pawn in his world?

I had nothing, no way out. Running would see me hunted for failing in my duty to the family.

"Take the day to come to terms with it. I'll be in touch tomorrow." His voice shifted, becoming darker. "And Sofia? Don't think about running. We know where you are. We know where you work. Don't try to turn your back on your family again."

My blood turned to ice as I shuddered. "Are you threatening me?"

"I'm reminding you to think of those you love before you make any rash decisions."

The call ended before I could respond.

I stood there, trembling, as the meaning of his last words sank in. He wasn't talking about my blood relatives like many would think, I knew him too well. He meant Meredith. Maybe even Grayson. My newfound friends and family—the people I'd built my new life around.

Going after them would start another war if he did, something else I couldn't risk.

"Fuck." I shoved off the wall, heading for my car as my mind spun and my heart hammered.

Fucking Ernesto. He and my father were the cruelest men in my family that I knew of. They'd been so close until he made a bad call, sending a handful of Savoca men into a trap and getting them killed. Including one of Caterina's sons, my cousin Orlando, and her husband, Gio.

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